


Siren of the Woods

by twimatt



Category: Muse
Genre: Folklore, Gen, Huldra, Skogsrå, Swedish folklore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-08
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2017-12-22 19:57:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/917421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twimatt/pseuds/twimatt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldra and my entry for the June Stellarclouds Challenge: Fairy tales</p><p>"The Huldra is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. The huldra is a stunningly beautiful, sometimes naked woman with long hair; though from behind she is hollow like an old tree trunk, and has an animal's tail."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Siren of the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> I love my Swedish folklore, but this story in particular. Not my absolute favourite, but an easy second.

The five men could barely fit in the tiny cottage which was designed to hold only two fully grown men and piles of wood, but the biting chill in the air outside and the snow that lay heavily on the ground had kept the group from splitting up when the dark descended down on them.

They were woodmen, cutting down the trees owned by their rich masters so the masters could sleep in a warm house during the night, unaware of their men’s cold misery.

The men were under strict order not to use any of the chopped wood for a fire to warm themselves; they had been given half a sack of coal to use for the fire. But the night was long, and the winter cold. They had been sent out for a month with resources planned to be sent to them after two weeks. They had to report to the masters back home on how the work proceeded.

It was still three days until the scheduled arrival of the supplies, and they had put on their last bits of coal on the fire that night, watching it burn, letting the warmth warm up their cold bodies.

The men had two choices; either they tried to survive on their body warmth, and risked losing fingers and toes to the cold, or they hid away enough of their masters wood to get them through the three days until more coal came.

The decision was easy to make, and the men didn’t even utter a single word to make it, the glances shared through the rising smoke were enough.

“Dom’nic!” The tallest, but not the most muscular of the men barked out. “Go’ut and get wood for the fire.”

Dominic was the newest and youngest in the company, with dirty blond hair and darker skin than was usual this time of the year. As the youngest, and as a mere apprentice, Dominic was the one who had to do most of the carrying and errands. “Gotta put’a some muscle on thos’ skinny bones before ya can wield a propa axe,” the men joked with him.

Dominic didn’t really mind. As the youngest of five, he had been the one picked to run errands at home too. It was also his unfortunate position in birthright that had put him in the smoky hut with four sweaty men.

With a sigh, Dominic rose.

“Before ya go out, boy, remember to watch out for the Siren.” It was the man to Dominic’s right who had spoken. His name was Niell, but Dominic silently called him ‘The Flesh’ as the man’s upper gum was exposed whenever he spoke or smiled.

Dominic froze. “Siren, sir?” He asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

“Aye. Haven’t ya heard of a’ before?”

“N-no, sir.”

“It’s the Siren of the Woods, he’s talking about.” The man sitting across Dominic met his gaze and held it. His voice was a deep rumble in the confined space. It was Christopher, an old friend of his dad, and the one who had gotten him in as apprentice. “Unearthly beautiful, she roams these woods, protecting the forest. It is to her we sacrifice every morning, begging for forgiveness for what we are doing to her home.”

“And is it working?”

“We’re all still ali’e aren’ we?” The Flesh chimed in.

“Unearthly beautiful,” Christopher continued, putting weight behind his words, successfully silencing all stray talk. “But if she ever turns her back towards you, she will reveal her fox tail and hollow back. If she does that, then you have been blessed to not be chosen as her next pray.”

Silence.

“My ma always told me that tha siren’s had the tail o’ a cow.” The man on Dominic’s right, Mark, shot in.

“And that her back is holl’w, an’ the edges look like the bark of the trees.” Anders, a nearly finished apprentice few years older than Dominic added.

The men looked at each other through the thinning smoke, and shuddered simultaneously.

They also realised that the coal did not radiate that much warmth anymore, and ushered Dominic out to get as much wood as he could carry back with him.

It wasn’t a very long walk; and despite the snow reflecting the moonlight, it was still nearly impossible to see more than a metre ahead, the trees stealing most of the faint light.

Pulling his thick cloak tighter, Dominic trudged through the snow, shivering when he felt some stray flakes finding their way into his boots, melting because of the heat of his skin. He thought of what the other workers had said about the wood siren, how she lured men to their death with her beauty. He hoped that if he saw the siren, he would be able to resist the temptation, because deep inside, Dominic was a sinner. He was aroused by the women’s soft curves, yes, but he had too often found himself staring longingly at the hard lines of men.

With an effort, Dominic pushed the sinful thoughts out of his head, and within a few minutes he had found the pile of neatly stacked firewood they had chopped up that day.

Gathering as many pieces as he could carry, he carefully covered the remaining firewood with the sheepskin, and turned to walk back in his own footsteps back, the easiest way to find home.

He hadn’t gotten far when he heard a male voice call out softly to him. He stopped and listened. There it was again!

“Hello?” He called out. “Who is it? Niell? Anders? Don’t be silly, come on and help me with the wood, it’s so heavy, I’m going to drop some of it soon!”

“Can you help me?”

It was the same voice, but this time it came right from behind Dominic.

He spun around with a yelp, dropping the firewood in the snow from the sheer chock.

Before him stood a small boy who seemed to be of Dominic’s age, with hair black as a raven’s wings, striking blue eyes and skin so pale it nearly glowed in the night, something rich women would kill for. His cheekbones were sharp, but hollow, his shoulders sagging.

The boy’s entire body seemed thin, too thin, under the baggy tunic and trousers we wore. He had no shoes on his feet.

“Who are you?” Dominic asked, still feeling his heart pumping wildly in his chest.

“Matthew,” the boy answered.

“I’m Dominic. Er, Dominic Howardsson, that is.” Dominic stretched out his right hand, but Matthew only stared at it numbly. He withdrew it.

“I’m so alone. Can you help me?”

Heavy snowflakes started falling down around them, but Matthew didn’t seem to notice when the cold flakes landed on his face and body, quickly melting.

“I, uh--“ Dominic stuttered. “Of course!” He shrugged off his cloak, shivering as the cold hit him with full force. A simple tunic was all that covered his torso, the material stiffening in the cold. “Here, take this.”

“I’m not cold.”

“I insist.”

“I’m not cold. I’m alone.”

Dominic’s brow furrowed as he put on the cloak again. “You’re not alone any more. I’m here, and four mates are waiting for me in our hut. We should be able to squeeze you in too.” He added after sizing Matthew up as much as he could through the dark and the rapidly falling snow.

Dominic scooped up the now slightly damp firewood into his arms, but nearly dropped them again when he looked for his footsteps that would lead them back home.

They were gone, replaced by a smooth, thick blanket of white snow.

“No,” he whispered. “No, no, no, no, it can’t be possible.”

“Can’t you help me anymore?”

“Don’t worry, Matthew. We will find our home, I promise you that.”

They started walking in the direction Dominic thought he had come from. The snow was still falling down on them. Dominic offered his coat to Matthew several times, but the small boy refused each time. However, Dominic didn’t once ask if Matthew could ease the burden of the firewood, that burden was Dominic’s, and Dominic’s alone.

“And if you can’t find your way home?” Matthew said suddenly when they had been walking for what felt like hours.

“Then I will do whatever I can to keep you safe, even if it means that I must give up my life.”

“Why?”

Dominic laughed breathlessly. “I’m a sinner, Matthew. But if I give my own life up to save another’s, then maybe God will have mercy on me, and will let me into his eternal kingdom. And,” he added after a small pause, “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you died, knowing that it was in my power to save you.”

Matthew didn’t answer to that statement, didn’t even hummed, but when Dominic glanced back he was still there, walking closely behind.

At last Dominic admitted to himself that he was defeated.

He stopped and dropped the firewood carelessly into the snow. A harsh sob wracked through his body, then another.

Soon the tears were falling freely down his cheeks. They would have frozen on his cheeks, but the heat for the fresher tears prevented it.

“I can’t do this. I’m so sorry, Matthew. I’m so sorry.” He sobbed, head cast down towards the ground.

“Please, forgive me.”

Dominic got no answer.

“Matthew?”

Silence.

Dominic turned around but Matthew wasn’t behind him anymore. The boy was walking away from him, towards the deepest part of the forest, a part the men hadn’t dared touch yet.

Dominic’s eyes were fixed on the mop of black hair, but movement on the lower part of the frail body caught his eyes, and he gasped, feeling all warmth and strength drain out of him in a flash.

For Matthew’s back was hollow, and right above his arse-cheeks was the beginning of a long red tail with thick fur, nearly reaching down to his knees, waggling slightly to the sides with each step he took.

The leaves on the surrounding trees were ruffled by an invincible wind carrying words faint like a whisper back to Dominic.

“You hurt this forest. I am this forest. But you were kind to me. I will not forget your kindness, Dominic Howardsson.”

The snow had stopped falling some time ago, but Dominic couldn’t remember when, nor could he find the energy to care.

When he turned around he was met with the sight of his own footsteps in the snow, leading back towards the hut, warmth and safety.


End file.
